March 08: We're about to get our first little sister or brother!

[turtle23]

Thought I'd start a new thread as as soon as evie pops we're bound to fill it hugely and some of us have phones to work with!

should have clarified...baby fallsasleep, is woken by bratty bro three seconds later. We live ina flat.

Does T sleep in the pram? Take them out at nap time,maybe to a park you can turn P loose in. I know it's cold, but our mantra in this house is that there is no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing.

I'm with Littleducks re repetition. Bedtime and nap time is the only thing I am draconian about, and for us it works. How is T at settling? Our house is usually noisy, we made no concessions to the baby, and as a result she'd sleep through the end of the world. But then that's her...I may find my theories slap me on the ass if we ever have another.

It's bloody snowing again. I haven't left the sodding camp in days, and have severe revisionitis. But, there is an outside chance that I won't be able to get to Oxford for the exams, so every cloud and all that.

He probably would. Dont do prams anymore, really. Dont want to be out for every nap. He doesn't even sleep in the car, this baby.

This house is never quiet. Thing is that as of this week T will not sleep through P's screeching. Try getting him to be quiet...it isn't easy. He knows that it upsets me, I guess. T has had two 20 minute naps all day today since 6am. It's nuts and I am very tired. Usually he will at least sleep during P's nap if I lie with him but that doesn't even work now.
DH is stuck up a bloody mountain in North Wales and wont be back to give me a break for...well...who knows. Maybe not til February at this rate. Nothing can get down the road to where he is, and it's 2 miles of hills to the house.

(remember that T is only 7 weeks...routine is futile, really until 12 weeks IME)

it's a lot of effort, but worked for us. older child gets hugely overstimulated by you while baby is awake. 24 rounds of sleeping bunnies, major rough housing session, spinning around til sick in a bilibo, NO TV while baby awake. baby nap time is then snack time, tv time and how many small items can you shove up your nose time. it seems like a killer effort, and is frst few days, but then p may start to go for it himself.

i did stick baby upstairs in cot for nap and dd downstairs for quiet game/tv time during his naps....but boys seem to be far noisier and run around aimlessly far more than girls...as ds is keen to breathe

timelord- the reading campus was shut all last week so no class and i hadnt done my assignment (powerpoint presentation) and didnt get caught out! is it bad to wish it closed again this week, i really dont want to be driving home at 10pm on the icy roads

just waddling by to say hi! 8 weeks to go now...

DH took DD sledding this morning in Greenwich park- gorgeous but so cold! I took photos and pushed the buggy around while stamping my feet furiously to keep warm

Really not looking forward to the newborn/toddler clashes coming up, but saving all these suggestions for now and sure I'll be begging for more in a few months' time!

xx

Have you tried having a radio on in T's room to block out other sounds? I used to stick Radio 4 on so that I could hoover and do stuff whilst DD slept. Might be worth a try? Can you get upstairs sorted so it's suitable for T to nap up there and you can just use a monitor? Shut kitchen door and do some baking with P?

If weather wasn't so crappy I would offer to come round and help out - can't imagine I would be able to get down the hills without hiking shoes/sledge though . You're very welcome to come over on Thurs (weather permitting of course) and nap here whilst I amuse the terrors our angelic little toddlers.

Only 8 weeks to go ilgb how exciting!

I only had one class cancelled this week, most disappointing. One of the perks/disadvantages of being in London I suppose! DD isn't a huge fan of snow, every single time we have been out in it she just says, "Mummy, cold, cake" indicating she wants to go to Cafe Nero don't know where she gets it from...

Thanks, all.
Ewe-we have no kitchen door. Upstairs being sorted in two weeks.
Am so angry this morning. It's just not fair. Feel like shit, P up at 4, 445, 530 then just screamed til 6 when I gave in. He refuses to eat atm and I know he is hungry. D is stuck in Wales. T having bad poo reaction to my ABs...dont know what to do...stick it out and get better quickly or mess about changing them. His poo stinks and it hurts him.
Am tempted to just sell P.

just delurking for a bit to wish you some peace n rest Turtle...sling no good now? At least then I guess he could nap on the hoof until things have calmed down enough to try routine again.

I discovered on Saturday I'd given birth to a monster...am never taking E shopping again until he's at least 16 or being chaperoned by his dad. It was all going so well until he saw the escalators then we had screaming tantrums if we dared to walk past the blardy things. So I spent valuable window shopping time going ul and down the sodding escalators when it got to much to take having my hair pulled and eyes gouged out.

Had very brief cremation thingy for my dad on Friday, all being well travel-wise there's a service to bury the ashes on Tues, then a thanksgiving service with 200 or so congregation on weds over in Belfast.
Am predicting the oncoming nervous wreck will hit me by Thursday night when I'm back home.

ps, hoping exams are on/off for all as required

I hope that everythng goes smoothly for you and your family, DP.

How are things today, Turtle. I checked eBay and couldn't see P under the Baby and Toddler section, so I gather you've decided against selling him? And from what you've told us, your H is probably as much use up a mountain as he would be were he at home.

Must stop coming in from the snow and making hot chocolate 'for the baby'. Will be size of house in no time. Took buggy and dogs out this morning, and Quinny is better than my Honda CR-V in the snow.

Uni making decision about exams today - don't really mind either way now, but it would be nice to know either way.

Your DD sounds funny, Ewe. Ff thinks the snow is delicious, but wasn't particularly impressed when she lost a welly in a deep bit. ('Mama! Booooooot!'). It is excellent for afternoon sleeps though...after a little while battling through the snow she's exhausted.

True, DH is useless...but at least I could get 5 mins away!!

Today T had his first jabs and has been asleep ever since.

ilgb..that went quickly! Enjoy these last few moments of freedom with one child.

Ewe-we still on for lunch?

DP-Hope things are ok for you. Thank you for being so nice to me.

I didn't sell P on ebay. I put him in the window with a price tag on...got window shoppers but no bites.

Have remembered that I shouldn't wish sleeping changes. DS2 now sleeping too much in day. I cannot win. Poor thing had horrid reaction to jab last night. Have been up all night monitoring his temp and keeping him cool.

Any ideas what to buy a three yr old girl for a birthday present? That's my fate today. Present buying then screaming three year olds after no sleep. Am purchasing earplugs too.

3 year old girl?
dressing up stuff (just avoid high heels or there will be an AIBU thread on here from her mum tonight)

basic craft sets
a good old fashioned puzzle
simple game jitterbugs or similar

or i buy these books alot always seem 'special' and birthday-ish here

just dont buy a doll or teddy, they will be liked but you always get given sooo many

I can't believe it's started snowing again here! I just managed yesterday to use the pram on the school run after a week of lugging DD around in the backpack and it's started snowing again. I am officially done with winter. DS is on his fourth pair of gloves as school keep on eating them and DH has just been diagnosed with high cholesterol so we can't even console ourselves with hot buttered toast and mince pies etc....... rant over...

What are your LO's playing with at the moment? DD is obsessed with a Baby Born we picked up on freecycle. We dress it, she runs upstairs with it and puts it the bath then shouts 'helpppppp' so I run upstairs and get it out of the bath then we dry it with a towel and dress it and then ride it around in the pram. Repeat until bedtime when it goes to bed with her. I am currently free because she's sitting on the sofa reading it a story . So very oddly girly. DS was into car and puzzles at this age rather than role playing.

DH and I have our 10 year wedding anniversary on Friday

We haVE MOre snow too, so uni cancelled again tonight (YIPPEEE, was a horrid drive last night)

But the side effect, is majorly bored and unexercised children who have been watching too much TV.

DS is a bit of an odd child, today the only game he has played is collecting all the oversized teddies from his room, throwing them downstairs, to form a teddy mountain.....then giggling at my complaining that i cant get into the kitchen.

Ah well 3 weeks of snow and for the first time in years i seem to have actually shifted my laundry backlog......

10 years - wow! Congratulations.

I too am utterly sick of the snow, uni cancelled again this evening. DD has a horrid cold and conjunctivitis, assume you're busy getting your little man well anyway turtle but perhaps we could meet up at the weekend or next week all being well?

Bored of snow here too.

Have decided due to recent events that I am currently on some kind of Truman Show-esque reality tv show. Anybody want to come and join in? Whatever next...

Is there a meetup planned at some point?

gg is mostly running around initiating tickling games and climbing impossible combos of furniture.

i am dumping successfully-settled-at-big-school ds1 on the home help tomorrow pm (ditto floor washing, laundry and cooking) and running away with ds2 to just do something so he can get active. poor we e, so housebound mite he's been

finally whacked some wedding pics on FB profile, hurray. speedy. not.

I was just looking at them , Merry, they're lovely, you look so happy. And GG looks so little! (Well, compared to now anyway...)

Have emerged from revision nightmare. Because of the snow I didn't get to the last exam - instead spent three fun filled hours sat in the car in a huge traffic jam on the outskirts of Oxford. Will have to submit a statement to the Mitigating Circumstances Panel, but I can't see them getting funny about it. What really annoyed me was that I spent Tuesday night committing about a hundred cases to memory...I was so bloody well prepared!

No cabin fever here - say what you will about having dogs, but you do HAVE to get out of the house everyday. Ff starting to whinge about wanting to hold the lead now...this is Bloke's fault for letting her hold Boydog when we were on the (deserted) common once. Obviously this cannot be allowed, so it's one mire thing for her to narrow her eyes and shout, 'Bah!' at me about...

My mum called me yesterday asking if she could buy the cake for Ff's birthday party because MIL bought it last year. (we are not, alas, a family of bakers) How did that come around so quickly? In five weeks I'll have a two year old! I keep saying it about every stage, but this one is lovely. She's so funny - obviously inherited her father's northern-ness, as her favourite game is getting her tea set out, taking people a cup and saucer and offering it saying, 'brew?'.

Got a letter offering the swine flu jab - does anyone have any thoughts on it? I don't know very much I'm afraid.

Would love a meet up. Central London good for me, but am flexible. Somewhere outskirty with parking would also work. Or, come to Henley where Littleducks and I had a meet up...tis very genteel.Monday, thThursday and Friday good days here for toddler meets, and the weekend best if we're meeting to get drunk discuss parenting without children to distract us.

Maube timelord should buy Ff a lovers lead as a birthday present?

I am a bit concerned about ds, he still cant say his sisters name.....although is fine to say Lola, Peppa and Dora ......i feel i must be neglecting him

If it doesnt snow (again) I am happy to do a meet up, Fri the best as dd free day, but i must admit to totally wimping out at bad weather and staying home, am going to attempt to drive today but see no point if its icy.

P obsessed with numbers. Says nothing else. Just counts.

Ff hasn't got too man words yet - mostly ones with an 'ooo' sound, like 'brew', 'shoooooooe', 'joooooooooooooce', 'boooots'etc. And she can say cheese, which is her favourite thing to eat. I'm not worrying about it...she seems to understand everything, so I am sure the words will come.